ATLANTA – Jake Ticer and Maverick Stallings both homered, but Old Dominion Baseball dropped Game Two at Georgia State, 5-3 on Friday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The Panthers (25-30, 13-16 Sun Belt) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Maximus Martin led off with a single to first base, advanced to third on a Will Mize base hit through the left side, and tagged up on a Matt Ruiz sacrifice fly to center field. The Monarchs (28-24, 14-15) then jumped ahead in the fourth inning as Ticer followed a Bryce Jones hit up the middle with a two-run blast to center field.
The hosts knotted the game at 2-2 in their next turn at the plate as Michael Maginnis doubled down the left-field line and came around on a Ruiz triple to center. John Holobetz retired the next three GSU batters to prevent any further damage.
Stallings belted his 10th home run of the season to start the fifth inning, giving the Monarchs a 3-2 advantage. Again the Panthers answered, however, as Colin Hynek drew a one-out walk and scored on a Martin double to the gap in right. A Brennan Hudson two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth brought in the decisive runs as GSU retook the lead, 5-3.
ODU had runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, but Stallings went down swinging. In the ninth, Kyle Edwards hit a one-out double to left and reached third base on a Luke Waters ground out to short. He was left stranded though as Kenny Levari struck out to end the game.
Holobetz (4-5) received the loss after allowing four runs on five hits and one walk. He added one strikeout in three innings in relief. Blake Morgan gave up one run on three hits, didn’t issue a walk and struck out two in a three-inning start. Bailey Matela and Lincoln Ransom also came out of the pen.
Ticer led the Monarchs with a 2-for-4 day at the plate and hit his sixth long ball of the season. Jones went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run, and Stallings finished 1-for-4. Also collecting hits were Steven Meier (1-for-3), Even Holman (1-for-3), TJ Aiken (1-for-4) and Edwards (1-for-5).
Saturday’s rubber match was scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, but has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to expected inclement weather.